The 24-year-old played on the left flank and almost grabbed an equaliser, but United lost 2-1.

Reflecting on United’s exit from the competition, Townsend discussed how the team will bounce back, his return from injury and George Hornshaw’s debut with iFollow Iron.

ON LEICESTER CITY UNDER-21s…CT: It was difficult. They have some good players that are worth a lot of money. It’s still a disappointing result but I thought that we were a lot better in the second half. We should have been starting the game a lot better.

ON PLAYING AGAINST PLAYERS THAT HAVE PLAYED AT A HIGHER LEVEL…CT: We are professionals just like they are, so even if they are playing at a higher level we need to, especially in the first-half, compete a lot better. No matter how good the opposition is, we still fancy our chances. It was disappointing, especially with how we started. It’s one that we need to learn from and try and pick ourselves up from.

ON WHETHER THE IRON WERE UNLUCKY NOT TO SCORE ANOTHER…CT: Maybe a little bit. Clayton (Lewis) has had one come off the post and there were a couple of great saves from the ‘keeper. It ended 2-1 but it could have been 2-2. We have been beaten again though so it’s disappointing.

ON HIS CHANCE IN THE SECOND HALF…CT: Clayton crossed the ball in and I thought that it was going in. I followed it in and it bounced off my head and into the ‘keeper’s arms, so it wasn’t to be.

ON GEORGE HORNSHAW’S DEBUT…CT: He did very well. It was a tough night as a team, coming up against some really good players. For George it will be a great experience for him and I thought that he held himself really well. He got stuck in when he needed to and I think that he can be proud of what he has done on the night. It’s much like (Lewis) Butroid did last year. He played in this competition as a youth player and built on it. I think that George has got a bright future in the game if he keeps his head down and works hard. Hopefully this is just the start.

ON GETTING 90 MINUTES OF GAME-TIME…CT: Coming back from injury is tough and the team has been on a really good run. That’s great and as long as we are winning that is the main thing. It’s nice to get some minutes under my belt and I will use that going forward and hopefully get back involved.

ON WHAT CAN BE LEARNT FROM THE CUP GAMES AHEAD OF WALSALL…CT: A lot of things. We need to be right in ourselves no matter who the opposition are. We need to be better and we have been in the league. We’ve been very good and maybe this is a bit of a wake-up call to not rest on our morals. We’ve got to pick ourselves up and prepare right for Saturday.

ON FOCUSING ON THE LEAGUE…CT: The league is our main priority. The team tonight was a lot of lads that haven’t been playing, myself included. There were lads who were coming back from injury. Churchy (Simon Church) was back on the pitch so it’s good for us to get some minutes. However, as a squad we know that we’ve got a big challenge coming up for the rest of the season to do what we want to do.

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